KEY POINTS:
- Maymi Asgari is a 24-year-old who's amassing fans in Doha, where she's performing for crowds.
- She says she wants to dispel myths about headscarf-wearing female footballers.
- She's delighting fans around the stadiums in Qatar where World Cup games are being played.
Outside the stadiums of Doha, 24-year-old Maymi Asgari performs for passers-by and football fans who've descended on the Qatari capital for the World Cup.
Her football tricks and skills have not just amassed fans around the city, but also on social media as well. She's quickly gaining followers on TikTok where she posts some of her videos.
The hijab-wearing football freestyler says she wants to show kids that, "no matter how you look and what you believe in, you can achieve what you want".
"I want to show that, yeah, I wear the hijab and I'm Muslim and I'm a woman, but it doesn't mean that I can't play football," she said.
"I can do the exact same thing as everybody else can do."
The 24-year-old TikTok sensation's advice is to not change yourself but to change the game.
"I am born and raised in Denmark - many of my teammates are blonde and not Muslim. But I didn't want to change and look like them just to be in the game. I tried to change the game so I could be in it."
Her own inspiration comes from Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho.
"I just loved the way he played with the football. It was like the ball was part of his body," she said.
"I try to copy him in so many ways."
During the World Cup, Ms Asgari gained social media traction after uploading videos of her performing freestyling tricks with other football fans outside of stadiums in Qatar.
Her most successful upload has gained 19.6 million views on TikTok, as of 1 December.
- with Reuters
